Zoo Lights 2008

We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo for Zoo Lights this year. We happened to go on a very wet and rainy night. We got so soaked that we had to buy ponchos at the gift shop! We did get to see a few animals but mostly lights. Even with the rain it was still a good time (how can you beat being able to wear such high fashion such as yellow ponchos?!).

Holiday Window Displays

We went to see the window displays at Macy's on State St again this year. This has become one of Missy's new favorite holiday traditions! This year's theme was hope and "A Million Reasons To Believe..." On our way there, we also saw another building with interesting lighting. While we were looking at the displays it started to lightly snow. That added to the atmosphere of the evening. 

The Smashing Pumpkins

We went to one night of the two-night "Black & White" concert of The Smashing Pumpkins. They put on an entertaining show. It was a really fun night, and the only thing that could have made it better is if the crazy lady behind us would have passed out sooner! ;-)

City Hall and Union Station

We decided to take part of a day to go see the banners at City Hall and check out Union Station. It was fun to see the inside of Union Station, particularly the warped stairs. The albums these pictures are in also have other pictures of sights around Chicago since we have been here. 

History In the Making

We knew that moving to Chicago would open up many more opportunities to us, but we never dreamt that we would be able to be a part of such an important, historical event. We were privileged to be able to attend the Election NIght Obama Rally at Grant Park. It was an absolute amazing experience. So many emotions ran through us, and the whole event seemed so surreal. Being there brought us a great sense of connection to our country. In addition to the pictures posted at Picasa (click on above picture to see the others), there are also some videos posted at youtube. Please check those out as well!

Second City

We finally went to Second City. We went with a group with Nathan's work. We saw the "best of" show, which is improv and sketch comedy. It was a good show. We eventually want to check out their other shows, too.

Weezer

In the beginning of October Maria, Nathan, and I went to the Weezer concert. Tokyo Police Club and Angels & Airwaves opened for them. It was a good show! Missy succumbed to an impulse buy on the way out and got a glow-in-the-dark Weezer t-shirt.

Cat's Cramping Our Style

With September here, and now almost gone, we look back and realize we didn't do too much this month. We had a couple weddings and a Cirque show we planned to go to (all in MN) that we had to cancel or respond with regrets because one of our cats, Zeb, has been sick . He has lost a lot of weight and began acting out-of-sorts so we took him to the vet. Turns out he has feline anemia (root cause yet to be determined). He has been on and off different medications/dosages and while he seems better at times he still isn't quite right. And it seems the longer we are away he does worse. We decided it was best for us to stay home. Currently, he still has his moments but is doing OK. Unfortunately, we seem to have stumped the vet as well. So, to keep busy we have been working, checking out sights around Chicago, Nathan has filled in on a bowling league for a co-worker, and well, all three cats have enjoyed us being at home!

Lollapalooza!!

Lollapalooza was in Chicago August 1-3. We lucked out and were able to get tickets somewhat last minute and were very excited that we got to go. The weather was beautiful all weekend and we got to see and/or hear a lot of different bands (sometimes we just heard the band as we were cooling off or waiting for another band to start on a nearby stage)! The bands that we saw were The Black Keys, The Raconteurs, Radiohead, Mason Jennings, Perry Farrell with Slash, Lupe Fiasco, Rage Against the Machine, Iron and Wine, Gnarls Barkley, and Nine Inch Nails. 

Just Another Birthday ... another 27th Birthday...

Missy celebrated her "27th" birthday (again) this year. Some friends from back home came to Chicago to celebrate with us and our more local friends. We went to dinner, played Rock Band, did some sightseeing, and just had a relaxing time! 

Crocs AVP Tour

Mid-July we had the chance to go to the AVP tournament! It was held at Oak Street Beach this year. Our friend, Kelly, was able to come visit us and go to the tournament with us. It was awesome. We never thought that we would be that close to eight olympians! I put a couple clips up on yotube.

Taste Of Chicago and Hershey's

After the Fourth of July, we all went to the Taste of Chicago. We checked out the Bean on the way. Once at the festival, we checked out a lot of the booths, and tried some good food. They had Wii's set up so you could try Wii Fit. Afterwards, we went to the Hershey store. Mathew and Emma were factory workers and got buckets of candy. We then took the trolley back to our place. 

Shiela and Rob Visit

In the early part of April Shiela and Rob were able to visit. They were in the relative area for a whole week! Rob had to go to Kenosha, WI for work. It couldn't have worked out better!

A Full House

It turned out that Nathan and his Dad did get to celebrate close to their birthdays. His Mom, Dad, sister Ellie, niece Lilu, and nephew Truman came to visit over the long weekend. It was nice spending time with family. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry (twice!), took mini-scenic drives, and enjoyed a private box at the House of Blues Sunday Gospel Brunch. They were nice enough to bring our bookshelves (among other misc items) from our old place, as well as the coldest weather we had seen all winter as a bonus (did we forget to say thank you?!) ;-)

Sure Are A Lot Of January Birthdays!

Nathan thought he would be lonely without his Dad to celebrate their back-to-back birthdays with but it turns out that he has two co-Googler friends that sandwich his birthday - Maria and JJ. We ate and played at Dave and Buster's.